


In Search of Your Happy Ending

by livinglights (Langus)



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-24
Updated: 2016-03-24
Packaged: 2018-05-28 20:41:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6344398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Langus/pseuds/livinglights
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After sensing a bit of sexual tension between herself and Steve during training, Natasha calls him out on it and urges him to find his happy ending.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Search of Your Happy Ending

“Why don’t you just do it?”

“I’m sorry?”

He got up a little too quickly and brushed invisible dirt from his hands.

“Kiss me. Why don’t you just do it?”

She watched him carefully, her gaze unflinching. She wouldn’t be satisfied without an answer. He bent down and grabbed his water bottle off the floor and squirted a healthy amount into his mouth. He was stalling while searching for an answer. Every one of his movements was tell-tale avoidance tactics. She knew how to circumvent those, and many others. Her training hadn’t all been for naught, especially in moments like these.

“I don’t mind if you do, Steve. I’m not here to judge. I’m just curious.”

He gave her his tell-tale “Steve Rogers is disappointed” look and shook his head.

“Is it because of Banner?”

That got his attention. He stopped short and turned his head back towards her.

“He’s a friend,” he said simply, but it was answer enough.

“It must be hard for you,” she pushed, “working side-by-side with me every day and having to shut out the little voice inside of your head that-”

“Natasha, stop!”

“Hit a little too close to home with that one, didn’t I? Sorry about that. Like I said, I’m not here to judge, I’m just curious.”

“About what?” he demanded, sounding tired.

“About what it is that makes you stop. Is it lingering feelings for your girl? Guilt over Banner? Or is it performance anxiety? Was the last time we kissed the last time you-”

He gave her a look that was about as close as Steve Rogers got to angry, which meant he looked thoroughly annoyed.

“What does it matter?”

“Like I said,” she reiterated with a casual shrug, “I’m curious.”

“Would the answer make any difference?”

“To what?”

He gave her a long look, then used what was left in the water bottle to soak his head and face. He grabbed his towel off the floor and draped it around his neck.

“I’ll see you around Agent Romanoff,” he said casually and departed in the direction of the showers.

When he emerged into the locker room twenty minutes later with a towel about his waist she was waiting for him on the bench. She was still wearing her training outfit, the one that hugged each and every curve and made it near impossible for him to look away. She helped by generally aiming forceful kicks at his head. It did the trick.

But with every day it got harder to ignore the voice inside of his head that demanded his slice of happiness. Stark had Pepper, Thor Jane, Barton his wife, and Banner Natasha. He was the only one without a soothing feminine touch to come home to and it didn’t seem fair. Though in some ways it was reassuring to know that it was just as hard to get a date looking like he did as when he was a scrawny kid out of Brooklyn.

“Hey soldier,” she greeted him with a teasing smile.

“Natasha, what are you doing here?”

“I think I’ve finally got it figured out.” She got slowly to her feet and turned to face him. He felt suddenly very aware of his nakedness and the fact that there was little more than a towel and some leather between them.

“You’re afraid,” she started off and he lifted a brow looking only slightly amused. “You’re afraid of what will happen if you do.”

“Aren’t you?”

“You mean with Banner?”

He nodded and she looked away. “A part of me that I can’t shut out tells me that I’m with him because it’s what makes the most logistical sense. He’s the only one here I’m no match for, so what better strategy than to take the most volatile creature out there and make him an ally? Better yet, the closest of allies – a romantic partner.”

“Natasha, that’s-”

“Sick? Depraved? I’ve heard it all before. I’ve thought it all before. But that isn’t the only reason I’m with him. We understand each other in a way no one else can. We’re monsters, each, in our own way. We both have red in our ledger. We both want to do right in the world. We see a lot of ourselves in each other, and in this world that’s hard to find.”

“Do you love him?”

Her lips lifted into a sad sort of smile. “As much as I am capable. I don’t know if either of us is ever truly able to feel love the way that you do, but we try. We put on our best show, and we understand that about each other, too.”

“What about me?”

“You, Steve, you are the ideal. You’re the way the rest of us wish we’d turned out. You still dream of the little house with the picket fence and the little ones on the way. I could never give you that life. Even if I wanted to, I could never give it to you and you would always be disappointed. You need to get your picket fence happy ending, Steve. Because you are the hope for the rest of us. If you can do it after sleeping under the ice for seventy years, then it means there’s a chance it’s possible for the rest of us.”

“No pressure or anything,” he quipped in a valiant effort to lighten the mood.

“I mean it, Steve. Stop dicking around and go find your happy ending – whatever it’s supposed to be.”

A smile curved one corner of his mouth upwards. “I think I just may, but first…”

He stepped in closer and pulled her against him, enjoying the light scent of sweat that clung to her body suit. She didn’t stop him, didn’t put up any sort of fight. He possessed her mouth exactly the way he’d wanted to during the endless months since Banner’s disappearance. She melted into him, her body going limp and heavy as he explored her mouth and claimed it as his own. By the time he was done, by the time he set her down and came up for air, she looked a little more flushed than he could ever remember her looking.

“That was…”

“I’ve been practicing,” he offered with a wink. “Now if you don’t mind, I’d like to get dressed.”

Natasha’s brows rose and she looked as though she were suppressing a smile as she turned away.

“Be my guest! After a kiss like that, I’m going to need a cold shower anyway. Night, Rogers!”

He watched her retreat until the door to the change room closed shut behind her. “Sweet dreams, Natasha,” he said to no one in particular and pulled a clean dry shirt over his head.

 

* * *

 _Author's Note:_ Found this on my hard drive after it sat there for almost a year. This is my first attempt at anything MCU so I hope you guys liked it! Any reviews are welcome - let me know what you thought.

 


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